Nation digest 03/01/03

Dealer: R.I. nightclub bought cheap packaging

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The dealer who sold soundproofing to the nightclub where an inferno killed 97 people said Friday the owners bought cheap and highly flammable packing foam, not real acoustic insulation.

Experts said the packing foam burns like gasoline and emits a dense, toxic smoke.

Store records show that The Station club purchased "the lowest grade, the cheapest stuff," said the dealer, Aram DerManouelian, president of American Foam Corp. "They had choices, and that's what they bought."

An attorney for co-owner Jeffrey Derderian wouldn't comment on the purchase.

Soundproofing has emerged as a focus of the investigation into the Feb. 20 fire, one of the deadliest nightclub blazes in U.S. history. Authorities believe sparks from the pyrotechnics of the band Great White ignited soundproofing behind the stage, sending flames racing through building.

"They asked for egg-crate material and that's what we sold them," DerManouelian told The Associated Press. "It's good packaging material. You just can't light it on fire."

Indictments issued in alleged police cover-up

SAN FRANCISCO -- Police chief Earl Sanders and other department leaders have been indicted for allegedly covering up a brawl between off-duty officers and a bartender over a bag of fajitas.

Ten officers were indicted on felony charges late Thursday, including three charged with beating two men in front of a bar just after closing time.

The indictments stem from a November incident outside the Blue Light bar.

Bartender Adam Snyder has said he and a friend, Jade Santoro, were walking to their cars when they were accosted by the officers, who demanded Snyder's bag of steak fajitas. When he refused, Snyder said, he and Santoro were attacked.

Economy grows twice as fast as first thought

WASHINGTON -- The economy grew at a 1.4 percent rate in the final quarter of last year -- twice as fast as the government first estimated. While the performance is still considered below par, it showed that the recovery didn't stumble as badly as previously thought.

The revised reading on gross domestic product, reported by the Commerce Department Friday, is based on more complete data and marked a stronger showing than the 0.7 percent growth rate that was reported for the fourth quarter of 2002 a month ago.

GDP measures the total value of goods and services produced within the United States and is considered the best barometer of the economy's health.

Bible college gets 666 prefix off phone number

VANCLEVE, Ky. -- After months of asking for a new telephone number, the Kentucky Mountain Bible College has finally dropped the 666 prefix that disturbed Christians who recognized it as the biblical mark of the beast.

"We're just elated," said Rob Roy MacGregor, the college's vice president of business affairs. "It was like we had this scarlet letter attached to us."

The 666 prefix had been the only one available in Vancleve since phone service arrived here. The need for more phone lines forced phone companies to add new numbers. The college tried for several months to get the new 693 prefix.

In the Book of Revelation, 666 is stamped into people's foreheads or right hands during the last days. Those who receive the mark, according to Scripture, are damned to eternal punishment.

-- From wire reports